Anne worried that ‘homeschooling’ for him at this age would be tantamount to dropping out of high school altogether. He cut class more often than not, and when he did go, he kept getting into fights. She suspected it was only respect for Noah – and a desire to stay in his house rather than being shuttled back into the foster system or some kind of youth shelter – thathad kept him going to school at all.
“Noah already said yes,” Jasmine said when Anne’s silence stretched on.
Anne chewed on her tongue. Had he known that they were going to spring this on her? Or had the twins asked him last-minute as well?
Maybe Jayce would do better studying at home with Noah than he had in a barely-mediocre public school, surrounded by boys who kept picking fights.
But would Claire? Would she take her studies seriously, or would she want to be off gallivanting around the island every day of the week with Jasmine… and Jayce?
He wasn’t a bad kid. She knew that. He’d been dealt a rough hand, with a tumultuous childhood that included a stint at A Place of Refuge and weeks spent homeless at the beach.
Now, with the stability offered by Noah, he was trying to figure things out.
Jayce sometimes reminded her of Noah at that age. And Claire was so much like her mother had been as a teen, headstrong and passionate. Anne often worried what might happen if the two spent too much time with each other… but as far as she had seen, Claire wasn’t interested in him in that way.
She couldn’t let her past obscure her judgement and get in the way of their future.
Anne sighed and looked between their hopeful faces. This was what she had wanted for Claire to begin with. She couldn’t very well say no now, just because it might mean more time with Jayce.
“We already found a program,” Claire said, pulling something up on her phone. “We can learn all the basics, and some of the classes even give college credit, look.”
Anne clicked through the website, gleaning what she could.
“This should have been a longer conversation, Claire,” she said after a while. “You can’t just spring this on me last minute.”
“You’re the one who wanted me to homeschool in the first place!”
“Yes, but I thought we would figure it out together.”
“We still will. If this program isn’t good, then we can try something else. Just like you said last year, right?”
“Right,” Anne said reluctantly.
“Is that a yes?” Claire asked, beaming.
“I suppose it is.”
“All you have to do is sign this.” She produced a Notice of Intent and pushed it across the counter.
“I know. I did that for Pete.”
“Well?” Claire pushed the crumpled form a bit closer.
Anne sighed and signed the paper.
“Okay, let’s give it a try.”
Claire rounded the kitchen island and nearly tackled her with a hug.
“Thank you thank you thank you!”
Anne patted her daughter’s back. She would have loved to have gotten a reaction like that the first time she suggested homeschooling – but at fourteen, more time with her mom and little brother hadn’t been much of an incentive.
Now fifteen, she was even more driven by time with friends.
Anne’s eyes wandered to Jasmine. She was a good influence, at least, from what Anne had seen so far. And neither Anne nor Noah worked an office job with set hours; they would be with the kids more often than not, even during the day.
How much trouble could they get into?
